This specification relates to search query processing.
The Internet provides access to a wide variety of resources such as video or audio files, web pages for particular subjects, book articles, or news articles. A search system can identify resources in response to a text search query that includes one or more search phrases (i.e., one or more words). The search system ranks the resources based on their relevance to the search query and on measures of quality of the resources and provides search results that link to the identified resources. The search results are typically ordered for viewing according to the rank.
Some search systems can obtain or infer a location of a user device from which a search query was received and include local search results that are responsive to the search query. Local search results are search results that have been classified as having local significance to the particular location of the user device. For example, in response to a search query for “coffee shop,” the search system may provide local search results that reference web pages for coffee shops near the location of the user device. Many users in various geographic regions will likely be satisfied with receiving local results for coffee shops in response to the search query “coffee shop” because it is likely that a user submitting the query “coffee shop” is interested in search results for local coffee shops.
However, there are some search queries that may have higher local significance in one geographic region than other geographic regions. For example, most users in the United States that submit the search query “mimosa” are likely to be satisfied receiving non-local search results, such as search results referencing informational web pages that describe mimosas. However, there may be a geographic region where the term “mimosa” has different local significance, such as referring to a local café. In this geographic region, users may be more interested in receiving a search result referencing the local café rather than search results referencing informational web pages about mimosa drinks in general. In these geographic regions, users may be more satisfied if the reference to café is included in the search results that are presented in response to the search query for “mimosa.”